Garment



April 5, 1938. A. .1. HARwooD GARMENT Filed sept. 23, 1937 %INHalli-Salad y@ ATTORNEYY Patented Apr.. 5, 93

GNT

poration of @hic Application September 23, i937, Serial No. )5,306

3 Claims.

This invention relates to nether garments of the type which include agirdle affording abdominal support and a shorts portion attachedthereto. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novelnether garment of the type referred to which is more comfortable andconvenient to wear than those heretofore devised in that the shortsportion is so connected to the girdle as to provide a drop seat.

In the garment of the invention, the girdle may be of any suitableresilient material, but it is preferably made of a fabric includingstrands of yarn of the type commercially known as Lastex. The girdle maybe vmade of a tubular section of the resilient fabric or a piece offabric of appropriate shape, the ends of which are secured together.Preferably, the girdle is Wider in the iront than at the back and isprovided with a section along its upper edge which is less yielding thanthe remainder of the girdle. This insures that the girdle will flt thebody snugly and maintain the garment properly in place.

The shorts portion of the new garment may be made of any suitablematerial, but it is preferably formed of a knitted fabric and has theusual leg and y openings. The shorts portion is connected to the loweredge of the girdle along the front of the garment and is secured to thegirdle transversely of the latter at the sides of the garment. At therear, the top edge of the shorts portion is free of the girdle so as toprovide a drop seat, and it is provided with an elastic edge strip whichinsures that the shorts portion will be properly maintained in positionat the back. The top rear part of the shorts overlies the girdle andpreferably the top edges of the girdle and the rear of the shortsportion are formed to lie in registry.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a front view of the garment;

Figure 2 is a rear view with parts out away;

Figure 3 is a view in perspective, showing the manner in which the dropseat may be employed; and

Figure 4is a sectional view on the line Q of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the new garment, as illustrated, includes agirdle l0 which is formed of material which is yielding at leastcircumferentially of the body of the wearer. The girdle is formed with abody portion l I and a belt portion I2 at the top thereof, the fabric inthe body portion being somewhat more yielding than that in the belt. Thegirdle vin the garment illustrated is formed of a blank cut from thedesired material and in the completed girdle, the ends of the blank aresecured together by suitable stitching i3 lying at the back of thegarment. The girdle, as shown, is substantially wider in the front thanat the rear so that it affords the desired abdominal support withoutcausing discomfort.

Secured to the lower end of the girdle is a shorts portion, generallydesignated it. This shorts portion may be of any suitable material, butis preferably formed of knit goods since that material has aconsiderable degree of resiliency, and conforms snugly to the body ofthe wearer.

The shorts illustrated includes a pair of cooperating front sectionsifea, lb secured at their tops in partial overlapping relation to thelower edge of the girdle, and secured in overlapping relation at theirlower ends to the front edge of a crotch piece i6. The remainder of theshorts is made up of a back section il, the lower end of which issecured by stitching to the rear edge of the crotch piece. The backsection is formed with lateral extensions ita, lb which are secured attheir ends to the side edges of the front sections iba, ib,respectively, and the side extensions are secured along their upperedges to the lower edge of the girdle in the front. At the sides of thegirdle, the back section is secured to the girdle by stitching i9extending transversely of the girdle substantially to the top of thelatter. The crotch piece and front and back sections are formed toprovide leg openings 2o and elastic material may be inserted at the hems2i of the openings, if desired.

The top rear part of the shorts is formed to provide a drop seat and is,accordingly, downwardly Amovable relative to the girdle. For thispurpose, the top may be detachably secured to the girdle as by buttons,but preferably the top of the shorts at the rear is free of the girdleand it is provided along its upper edge with an elastic strip ilasecured to the section and to the girdle by the stitching i9. When thegarment is worn, the strip is under slight tension so that it tends tohold up the back section and. keep it in position. As shown in Figures 2and 4, the back section overlaps the rear portion 'of the girdle so thatthe upper edge ofthe back" section lies above the back lower edge of thegirdle and preferably in substantial alignment with the top edge of theback part of the girdle.

With the garment described, the girdle provides substantial abdominalsupport and the shorts portion performs its normal function. As

' desired, the elastic edge strip I9a being sumciently yielding for thispurpose. The use of the drop seat in this way requires no shifting ofthe girdle on the body oi' the wearer and the garment may thus be wornwith complete comfort to provide continuous abdominal support. The frontsections lia, lib are not connected together along their overlappinglateral edges 22, and thus a fly opening is formed between them.

The garment illustrated has been described as having a shorts portion ofknitted material and of such form as to provide leg openings with no legportions. It will be understood that if desired the shorts portion ofthe garment may be made of any suitable woven material and it may havelegs of any desired length.

With the garment described, the girdle provides substantial abdominalsupport and the shorts portion performs its normal function. Asillustrated in Figure 3, the free upper edge of the back section may belowered like a drop seat, if desired, the elastic edge strip 20 beingsuillciently yielding for this purpose. 'Ihe use of the drop seat inthis way requires no shifting of the girdle on the body of the wearer,and the garment may thus be worn with complete comfort to providecontinuous abdominal support.4

What I claim is: 1. A nether garment which comprises an elastic,abdominal-supporting girdle, and a shorts portion secured to the girdlelengthwise of the latter along its lower front edge and transversely ofthe girdle at the sides of the garment, the topv edge of the shortsportion at the rear being free of the girdle and normally lying abovethe lower rear edge of the latter.

2. A nether garment which comprises an elastic, abdominal-supportinggirdle wider at the front than at the back, and a shorts portion securedto the girdle lengthwise of the latter along its lower front edge andtransversely of the girdle at the sides of the garment, the top edge ofthe shorts portion at the rear being free of the girdle and providedwith an element which is elastic lengthwise of the edge.

3. A nether 4garment which comprises an elastic, abdominal-supportinggirdle, and a shorts portion secured to the girdle lengthwise of thelatter along its lower front edge, the upper portion of the shortsportion at its sides extending substantially across said girdle andbeing secured thereto, the shorts portion at the rear being free of thegirdle and normally having its top edge lying substantially in alignmentwith the top edge of the back part of the girdle.

ASA J. HARWOOD.

